by Misty Evans
“Sorry, there’s nothing I can do.” He shrugged one beefy shoulder. “You have to get that helicopter out of the way. There isn’t enough room for two.”
The door slammed shut in her face.
Anxiety tore its way through her body. The memory of them wheeling her mother away on a gurney just like that flashed into her mind.
Momma. I miss you so.
Sabrina hadn’t been there for her when she’d died and the guilt still ate at her.
What if Connor died too?
Her chest tightened even more, air whistling through her parted lips. Her body felt immobile, locked in place, her hands and feet terribly cold.
The helicopter had to be moved. She had no choice.
Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she sent her mind to a beautiful mountaintop, a sunrise, a quiet brook in an old forest. The nature scenes calmed her and eased the vise grip on her chest. Shaking out her hands, she opened her eyes and ran to the helicopter, hurrying to get the bird back in the air.
The UComm building was only half a mile from the hospital, but that meant half a mile back to the Emergency Room in early morning traffic.
No way was she leaving Connor for that long.
In the air, she circled around and found the spot she needed. An empty parking lot on the far side of the east wing. The parking lot held overflow from the main lots, where no one ever wanted to park, but often times had to. It would be a tight fit to get past the buildings and not clip the decorative trees, but she wasn’t an ace pilot for nothing.
A couple of the trees lost branches, but she managed to bring the helo down in a spot not more than a hundred yards from the east wing’s side entrance. Sabrina shut down the helicopter and ran for the door.
By the time she got to the ER and past the admitting nurse, she was winded. The nurse who had stopped her on the roof caught her arm as she went running past him.
“Hey, how did you get back so fast?”
She spun out of his grip and waggled her fingers in the air. “Magic.”
But when she got to the ER room where Connor was supposed to be and whipped the curtain back, her stomach dropped to her knees.
The bed was empty.
“He’s in x-ray,” the male nurse said coming up behind her.
“Is he going to be okay?”
The guy liked to shrug it seemed, giving her another one like he had on the pad upstairs. His dark eyes, which had probably seen a lot in his time working the emergency room, showed empathy for her. “A broken rib and he needs stitches. Other than that, he should be swinging like a champ again in no time. His concussion is mild.” He knocked his knuckles against his head. “He’s got a hard noggin, just like me.”
The guy grinned and relief made Sabrina’s knees gooey. “He’s not in shock?”
“Sure he is, but we’re loading him up with fluids and we’ll keep an eye on him.” He motioned at a chair in the corner. “Why don’t you have a seat? You’re looking a little pale yourself.”
Pale? After the night she’d had, the word made her laugh.
But she took the chair because her legs were definitely feeling boneless. “How about the woman? Is she okay?”
The guy made a face. “She’s headed to surgery. The bullet hit her clavicle and did some damage, but the surgeons will fix her up.”
His nametag read Otis. Sabrina stuck out a hand. “Thank you, Otis. I appreciate the information.”
He shook her hand. “Just doing my job, ma’am.” He started to walk away, then stopped. “Nice flying you did out there, by the way.”
Sabrina gave him a thumbs up. Just doing my job.
Chapter Ten
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Three days later…
CONNOR ROLLED ONTO his side and groaned into his pillow.
“Hey you,” a soft voice said as warm arms wrapped around his waist. “How are you feeling?”
His eyes flew open and the wall across from his bed came into view. Slowly, he looked back over his shoulder, his stitches balking at the movement.
Red hair and sleepy eyes met his gaze. Sabrina smiled at him through a yawn. “Do you need one of your pain pills?”
The previous couple of days came back to him in a rush. The ambush, the firefight, the cries of a newborn baby.
Beatrice’s laugh. Sabrina’s face when he came back from getting his ribs x-rayed. The night they’d just spent in his bed, after his time in the hospital filled with tests and procedures, Sabrina by his side through it all.
Once the doctors had released him, she’d brought him home to SFI Headquarters, fed him, cleaned him up, and tucked him into bed.
In his delirium—and regardless of his bandaged ribcage and stitched up neck—he’d pulled her in with him.
His broken rib put a damper on his acrobatics with her beautiful body, but man, oh man, letting her do most of the work was actually quite nice.
Nice? Who was he kidding. She was freakin’ awesome. The things she’d done to him, even in his injured state, had made every moment of the past few days worth it.
He still couldn’t believe she was here in his bed. “You’re my pain killer.”
A smile teased her lips and she kissed his shoulder. “I can find a few more ways to ease your pain, if you like.”
Oh, he liked all right. He was definitely up for more of that brand of medicine.
Shifting carefully, he rolled onto his back and drew her in close. “You’re way better than morphine. I’m totally addicted to you.”
He was lost in her lips when his phone buzzed on the nightstand. Sabrina broke the kiss and glanced over at the ID. Her phone began to buzz at the same time. “Uh, oh. I think we’re being summed by Queen B.”
“Beatrice? Is she home already?”
“Home?” Sabrina laughed. “She’s calling us from her office.”
“No fucking way.” Connor rubbed his head. “She just had a baby.”
“The hospital released her after twenty-four hours. She and the baby are doing great.”
Both of their phones buzzed again, like little angry bees on Connor’s nightstand. “I knew she didn’t plan to take any time off, but this is flippin’ ridiculous. I’ve never known anyone like her.”
“She’s a force of nature, for sure.” Sabrina reached across him to grab her phone, her full breasts pressing into his chest as she answered. “21 Pilots, here…. Yes, ma’am, he’s doing better…I think so. Sure.”
Sabrina paused and Connor heard Beatrice’s voice, but he couldn’t make out what she was saying.
Sabrina winked at him. “I think he can manage a short trip downstairs. I’ll get him up and we’ll be down… Copy that.”
She disconnected and tossed her phone behind her onto the bed. “The gang’s all here, even Emit and Miles. Beatrice says she has an announcement. We better get down there, asap.”
“Shit. I need a shower. Who’s answering the phones, by the way?”
She hopped out of the bed and drew a shirt over her head, a bright apple red that clashed beautifully with her hair. “Everybody’s taking turns. Even Parker and Savanna signed up for a couple of shifts. Henley, too.”
“Henley better not touch my phones. He’ll have everything screwed up.”
Sabrina laughed. “Don’t worry. Beatrice told him not to change anything. She’s got your back, Conmeister.”
Yeah, it seemed like everyone here did.
As Sabrina pulled on jeans and brushed her hair up into a ponytail, Connor angled himself up and out of bed. The pain was there, but manageable, especially with his sexy nurse helping him.
Once he was dressed and his hair was no longer sticking up in six directions, she declared him fit to show his face.
She brushed aside a lock of his hair and kissed him. “You’re my hero,” she whispered against his lips.
He didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything.
The
elevator ride to Beatrice’s office included some deep tongue action from Sabrina, and if the entire staff of Shadow Force hadn’t been waiting on them, Connor might have hit the Stop button and taken a hit of his favorite pain medicine right there.
As it was, he was hobbling slightly when they left the elevator thanks to his woody, but it was worth seeing the evil glint in Sabrina’s eyes and her cunning smile as she took his hand and led him to the office door.
“Hey.” He hauled her back and pulled her to the side. “Before we go in—”
Her smile faded. “Yeah?”
“I just want to be clear about us. About where we stand.”
“Oh.” Her face clouded and she released his hand. “You don’t want them to know, do you?”
“Me? You’re kidding, right?”
She gave him an odd look. “I’m confused.”
So am I. “You’re okay with them knowing that you just spent the night with me?”
A cock of her head only seemed to deepen the confusion on her face. “Of course I am. Why wouldn’t I be?”
Sabrina was definitely one hell of a pain killer. Her words were the best damn medicine he’d ever had. For his heart and soul, not just for his body.
He touched her crazy red hair and smiled. “I’m a mess, Sabrina.” He pointed at his temple. “My head, my PTSD…it’s all a train wreck in here.”
“Are you sure?” she asked quietly. “Because what I saw when you saved my life, and Beatrice and the baby’s, was a man of honor, loyalty, and bravery. So even if you’ve got some issues—and who doesn’t?—you’re doing a great job combatting them.”
Are you sure? The words echoed in his head, taunting him. The same words Billie had asked him right before 12 September ambushed them.
His heart beat like a timpani drum. Connor took a deep breath, welcoming the pain in his ribs, and closed his eyes for a moment. He still had a score to settle with 12 September, but right now he had a family here at SFI and a woman who cared for him. They believed in him.
All he could do was make sure he proved worthy of their support.
“Yeah.” He grabbed Sabrina’s hand again and squeezed it. “I am one-hundred-and-ten-percent sure that I want to be with you, and I’ll shout it from the rooftops if necessary.”
Her smile lit up the hallway. “Good, because my dad wants to meet you. Dinner’s at eight tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yep.” She nodded and her ponytail bobbed.
The door to Beatrice’s office flew open and Colton Bells stuck out his head. “Today already, people. Jesus.”
Holding hands with Sabrina and unable to keep the grin off his lips, Connor entered Beatrice’s office to find all of his SFI family waiting for him.
Chapter Eleven
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BEATRICE HAD NEVER been so utterly exhausted in her whole life.
Or so extremely happy.
Baby Reese was making the rounds with the entire group gathered in her office, while Cal stewed and kept passing the hand sanitizer around. As Connor and Sabrina entered, a cheer went up from the rest of the operatives and Beatrice thought Connor might be blushing.
“Come in,” she said, waving a hand at them. “It’s good to see you up and around, Connor.”
Extra chairs had been brought in, along with the baby’s cradle and a changing table. Near the fireplace, Savanna and Trace had set up a table and decorated it with ribbons and balloons. In the center was a sheet cake, and a cooler filled with assorted beverages sat on the floor next to the table. Maggie eyed all of it, waiting for a piece of cake it seemed.
Emit handed Connor a drink after their newest field operative confirmed he wasn’t taking any of the narcotics the doctors had prescribed. Sabrina accepted a bottle of iced tea and Zeb and Henley gave up their chairs for the two of them.
Baby Reese had gone halfway around the circle of operatives and their girlfriends and was currently being ogled over by Miles and Charlotte. “Have you named her yet?” Charlotte asked, her British accent light and bubbly.
“That’s why we called you all here.” There were several Rock Stars who couldn’t leave their charges, and a small team of Shadow Force men wrapping up a search and rescue mission in Nicaragua, but most of the rest had made it in. Even Jaxon had flown in from Chicago, bringing the CIA operative, Ruby McIntyre, with him. She was still as banged up as Cal and Connor, but she seemed happy to be invited to this little impromptu party. “But first,” Beatrice added, “Cal and I would like to take a moment to thank Connor and Sabrina for coming to our aid. You’re both receiving generous bonuses in your next paychecks.”
Connor stopped with the beer halfway to his mouth, then lowered it as his teammates clapped, whistled, and made catcalls. Trace patted him on the back and Sabrina grinned from ear to ear. Maggie made her way over to Connor and laid at his feet, wagging her tail.
Several of the men got up and gave Sabrina fist bumps and slaps on the back, like she was one of them. Her green eyes kept darting to Connor.
“It was nothing, boss,” Connor said, once the hoopla died down.
But it was, Beatrice knew, as did Cal, Emit, and the others. Connor had overcome the demons that lived in his head in order to help rescue them. There weren’t many men in his situation who could throw together an emergency rescue mission and execute it so flawlessly.
Sabrina raised her bottle of tea in salute. “To Connor. He’s the real hero here.”
“To Connor,” the others echoed, following suit and lifting their drinks. Beatrice lifted her fruit smoothie.
“I didn’t defuse a bomb,” Connor argued. He was definitely embarrassed, his neck flushed and his gaze drinking in Sabrina like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “None of us in that house would be here right now if it weren’t for you, Red.”
Sabrina leaned over and kissed his cheek and another round of catcalls and whistles went off.
“By the way,” Sabrina said, settling back into her chair. “Why does the cake say ‘Happy Retirement?’”
Colton, leaning against the fireplace, scratched his jawline. “It was the best I could do on short notice. It was either that or ‘Happy Sweet 16.’”
The baby stirred, arms waving and legs kicking. Her tiny voice cut through the noise as she let out a heartfelt “mew” and everyone started making over her again.
Cal stepped in and took her from Charlotte, holding the baby close to his chest as he hobbled over to Beatrice. His bullet wounds would add a few more scars to his collection, but he wore his injuries like medals. “We wanted to wait until Jax got here to announce we have a name for our girl.”
Beatrice took her baby and looked down into her face. So small. So sweet. So not a boy like she’d predicted.
She was never wrong about anything, but she had the unwavering notion that this child was going to prove her wrong on many, many things.
Jaxon leaned forward, setting his elbows on his knees. “What do I have to do with this?”
Jax. He was much like Cal in many ways and out of all of her SFI warriors, he’d always been completely honest with her, whether she wanted to hear it or not.
“All of you are special to me,” she said, and had to stop for a moment because her throat grew tight. “If I could, I would name this baby after every one of you.”
All eyes swung to Jaxon and understanding dawned across his face. He sat back and looked completely gobsmacked. “You’re naming the baby Jaxon? You sure about that? I don’t know if that’s so great for a girl.”
“Actually,” Cal said, grinning, “we’re naming her Sloane. Your last name with an e on the end. Sloane Tracia Kenzie Reese. Sloane after you, Tracia after Hunter, and Kenzie after McKenzie.”
Agreeable murmurs ran through the group. Heads nodded. Trace smiled.
“As all of you know, I was sure we were having a boy,” Beatrice admitted, “but regardless,
she needed something unique. Sloane fit and we added the others because, well, we wouldn’t be here without Connor and Trace. Sabrina either. If we have another girl someday, you all can guess what her name will be.”
“Oohs” and “ahhs” rippled through the room. Soft chuckles as well.
Colton grabbed a knife from the table and started cutting the cake. “That works, cuz, honestly, Colton is a way better name for a boy than Jaxon or Trace. So maybe next time, huh, boss? You’ll hook me up and name your kid after me?”
Beatrice laughed.
Miles stood and headed for the cake. “I think Miles has a nice ring to it if the next kid is a boy.”
“Don’t be stupid,” Zeb said, pushing off his chair. “Zebulon is the obvious choice if they have a boy.”
And so it went for the next few minutes. All the guys had a comment about wanting to share their name with any future Reese babies. Cake was passed around and congrats were bestowed on Beatrice and Cal, Connor and Sabrina, and Jaxon and Trace.
Sloane fell back to sleep in Beatrice’s arms as Cal spoon fed Beatrice a piece of the cake over the baby’s head. Once the crowd had settled into their food, Cal leaned over and whispered, “Should we tell them now?”
Beatrice looked over her SFI family and nodded, giving him a smile. Time was too precious to waste. It was one of the reasons she’d insisted they come to the office today and make their announcements. “Let’s do it.”
Cal used his fork to bang on his beer bottle and the room quieted, heads coming up to look at him and Beatrice. “There’s one more thing.” He turned to her. “B?”
Beatrice rocked gently in her chair as Sloane slept. “Cal and I aren’t religious people, but like usual, we’re doing what we want to, regardless of rules and societal norms. You’re all our family, and although Cal still has his mom around, neither of us is flush with blood relations. We want Sloane to know what it’s like to be part of a big family, so we’re naming each and every one of you as godparents to her. We hope you’ll take that role seriously and welcome her into your lives the way you have both of us.”